


forget me not and love me now

by PUNK_MENACE



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Blood and Injury, Hurt Richie, I Made Myself Cry, Injury, Love Confessions, M/M, Major Character Injury, Near Death, Not Canon Compliant, Romance, Shaky Hands, Whump, Whumptober 2019, do not copy to other sites
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 19:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20856845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PUNK_MENACE/pseuds/PUNK_MENACE
Summary: The problem is that Pennywise stabbed his huge, stupid, deadly claw right through Richie and it should have been Eddie.Alternatively, Richie saw something horrible in the Deadlights.  He stopped it from coming true and in the process jumpstarted his and Eddie's memories.  It's just their luck to remember how much they love each other as a result of a mortal injury.(Day 1 of Whumptober: Shaky Hands)





	forget me not and love me now

**Author's Note:**

> that bit about the dancing in the kitchen is inspired by my friend. anyway, happy Whumptober! i'm excited to write a lot, hopefully i have enough energy to do so. if y'all want me to continue with one more chapter to wrap it up all nice and pretty, pls comment below <3

“Hey,” Eddie says, “Hey, it’s okay. It- oh, god, _fuck_.” His hands hover over Richie’s body, shaking so hard they’re blurring in vision. That might actually be an asthma attack – or is it just an anxiety attack? – that’s making him breathe hard and quick. But Richie is barely breathing and that’s the real problem. The problem is that Pennywise stabbed his huge, stupid, deadly claw right through Richie and it should have been Eddie.

He had been perched over Richie, leaning down to finally kiss him amidst the feelings of victory and invincibility and _power_, when Richie had shoved him hard. Then Pennywise had just swung his scythe down and- and- and fucking _impaled_ Richie.

And now there’s blood spewing everywhere, hot and sticky. It’s way too hot, he didn’t know blood was this hot, and he didn’t know there was this much blood in a human being. Of course, he knew how many liters, but he’d never been able to imagine what that really meant and obviously he’d never imagined this much blood pouring out of Richie’s body and onto the slimy rocks.

Eddie bites down hard on his cheek and places his trembling hand on Richie’s cheek. He’s still warm, though oddly a bit colder than his own blood, and his eyes are open. He’s not dead yet.

“Look at me, look at me, Richie, please, you’re okay,” Eddie gasps. Richie obeys and blinks up at him. He coughs, more blood welling up behind his teeth and spilling over his tongue. “Richie- I...”

Richie’s hand covers Eddie’s. Though his grasp is weak, he manages to bring Eddie’s hand to his lips. He kisses Eddie’s palm.

“M’sorry,” Richie wheezes. “Sorry I didn’ say anything before.”

The whole world is narrowed down to just the two of them. It’s not that new a development. Eddie usually got distracted by Richie when they were kids. This is different, though. The air is charged, not just with mortal terror, but something Eddie was too scared to acknowledge when he was just a kid living in Derry. The fear of It behind them fades away, replaced by the much more potent fear that he’s about to lose Richie.

“No, no no, don’t apologize, you’re gonna be okay. I promise, I promise, Richie. I...I- I- _I—_"

“I love you.”

Of course it would be Richie that says it first. Between the two of them, he was braver. It doesn’t matter compared to the others like Bill and Mike that seemed to stand at the front of them like two human shields. Right now all that matters is that Eddie feels like he can finally breathe after 14 years of unending pressure from an intolerant hometown and 27 years of almost forgetting. 

“I love you too, Richie,” Eddie breathes, and then leans down.

He didn’t ever imagine their first kiss to be like this. Stuck in a hellhole with a murderous clown monster, Richie bleeding out under him. It’s not exactly romantic. But none of that matters – all that matters is that Eddie never got married in 27 years after moving out of Derry because he felt like he wasn’t ready. It wasn’t commitment issues, he realizes. He had been forgetting a boy who he had fallen in love with. The hazy memory stuck with him. All those years, he'd only ever dated dark-haired boys with a sense of humor. It never felt right, not as it does now.

He had fallen in love with Richie – shitty comedic timing, huge glasses, and all. Kissing him feels like a huge weight has been lifted off Eddie's shoulders.

Then Richie pulls back from the kiss and turns, spitting up blood. He coughs painfully, getting weaker by the second. Eddie gently wraps his arm around Richie’s shoulder and carefully sits him up. He lets Richie rest his cheek on his shoulder and cough, blood splattering all over his grimy jacket. Eddie rubs his back with shaking hands because it’s all he can think to do. 

This can’t be the end of it. Richie can’t die here. He isn’t supposed to be in horrible agony when he dies, he’s supposed to be lying next to Eddie, and they’re supposed to be old and wrinkly and gross. They're supposed to have more time.

They're supposed to have more time to kiss and hold each other and laugh and dance in their dark kitchen with soft music, swaying together slowly. Eddie is supposed to get down on one knee and ask for Richie’s hand in marriage and plan the wedding with him and not care if it’s small or big or if they get roses or lilacs. They’re supposed to go off on their honeymoon together and love each other and _have more time_.

Eddie clutches Richie closer, pressing a kiss to his temple and another to his lips. “I can’t believe I forgot you,” he says. “But- but, I never really did. I always…”

“Felt somethin’ was- was missin’?” Richie grins up at him with red teeth. “Me too.”

He can’t think of what to say to that and settles for kissing Richie again. There’s no way he'll ever get sick of the feeling of kissing Richie. It feels like he’s coming home.

Richie _is _his home. And he’s willing to bet Richie feels the same. 

Eddie’s made up his mind. He isn’t leaving this rotting cave without Richie, _alive_. There is no goddam way that stupid clown is going to tear the love of his life away from him. He’ll do anything – even if it means hurling more monster-killing spears at him, even if it means beating the crap out of a leper.

Nothing is scarier than a world without Richie Tozier.

The world seems to fall back into place around them. Beverly is kneeling beside him, the others gathered up close. They can do this. They _have _to do this.

Eddie leans down to kiss Richie once more and then lays him down gently. “I swear I’ll kick your ass if I come back and you aren’t awake, Trashmouth. I love you, okay? We’re getting out of this.” He climbs to his feet and turns to face It, the beast furious and quickly sliding itself off the spike.

His hands have stopped shaking. 


End file.
